Method of making socket-wrench heads



Patented Sept. 26, iZg,

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1,430,004 fir/,jrritiri*z ETALIVIAR G. CARLSON, OF WORCESTER,FfASSACIE'USl'l'IS,` ASSIGll'OR TO ROCKWOOI) SIPRXNKLER COIJFANY OF'MASSAGHUSET,TS,v OF WORCESTER; MASSCHUSETTS,`A

CORPORATION 0F .MASSACHUSETTS.v l

ianrrron or luz-imno sooner-WRENCH HEADS. 1

vApplication ined inne 5, ieiasxeriai no. 301,855.

To all whom t may concern.' f

Be it known lthat I, HJALMAR G. CARLSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at lllorcester, in the county of Torcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Method ot Making ,SocketflVrench Heads', ofwhich' the following is a specification. c

This vinvention relates to a method of working sheet metal, capable ofgeneral use7 but particularly adapted for the manufacture oi socketwrench heads. These heads have been made heretofore usuallyy from solidmetal by comparatively expensive processes; and this invention isdesigned to greatly reduce the expense of manufacture.

The invention involvesthe forming o'ifa flat blank of sheet metal unto acup shape. The closed end is reduced without reducing the cylindricalopen end. rl`his blank is I drawn between the' punch anddie by alongitudinal, that is axial pressure, to further reduce the closed endand flatten it so that the iiattening operation will be done by thedrawing process andthe metal will iiow inwardly toward the" plungerwhich is shaped to provide a passage of thel desired non-circular formthrough the blank.` Then the blank is punched clear through lthe closedend to continue the non-circular shape and providey an opening for thewrench handle7 and finally the iinished external and inten nal shape isgiven to the open end, as for example, it is made into a heXagon it it1s to be used for a hexnut. Although this represents briefly thepreferred way of carrying out the process, it is to be understood that ldo not limit myself to all the steps or details thereof except asexpressed in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figs. l, 2and 3 are central sectional views of a blank showing'three 1ofthe earlysteps in the process ofmanufacture'g- Fig. 4 is a sectionalv view of adie with the blank therein and the yplunger brought into position topermit thenext drawing operation Fig 5 isa view ofthe blank in the viewof the openend of the blank;

,Renewed February 2o, 1922. serialiiuo.$38,097.`

intofwhich the blank is placed showing the` punching through'theend ofthe blank;

Fig. 9 is an end view oli theblank in the same condition as shownin Fig.8;

Fig. 10 is a side View partlyin sectioniof the finished article; .y n

' Fig. vll is an end viewof the same, and l Fig. l2 is a side viewlofthe finished head and handle. v y

l have not shown the original flat blank of which the article is to be1nade,but vin Fig. l have shown it at A after it has been subjectedtothek iirst drawing operation. rllhe second operation producesthe blankB shown in Fig. 2 by velongating the blank shown in Fig. l and reducingits diameter. lt is of a general cylindrical form vwith one open end andthe other end closed by a convex endv wall.l The stepsy requiredtoproduce the iirst two blanks are common in this industry andneed notbe described in detailYand it is to be understood furthermore thatwhether it takes one, two, or more operations to get the blank readyitor ,the next step depends upon the characterv and thickness of themetal employed.

In Fig. 3 lv have shown the blank C as having passed through another'rdrawing op eration in a die of circular cross sec-tion, being punchedinto it by means of a plunger also having a cireularycross section,thedie andplunger beingr smaller at one end than at the'other end and theblank being ejected after it is formed in .the'usual way. 4ltwill .notbe necessaryto describe the details of the die and plunger, but theyproduce from the blank B' shownin. Fig. 2 the blank C shown in Fig.-Theopen endet this blank atl@ is shownas .substantially cylindrical andoi the same diameteras. the cylindrical portion of the blank 13. Thiscylindrical portion extends only ,ai short distance from the open endand the` blank isgthen con-` This blank C is then placed in a die 16kand operated on by a punch or plunger 1.7 to produce the modified blankD. The die 16 has a circular portion at the top of the same diameter asthe part 12, which pro duces an elongated cylinder 22 at the open end ofthe blank, the plunger 17 being cylindrical at this point and having asharp shoulder at 18. The plunger also has a reduced portion 19 which isflattened on two sides. The die 16 also has a shaping cavity at thebottom which is of a general cylindrical shape throughout a part of itsperiphery, but is provided with two flat portions on opposite sidescorresponding in position to the flattened parts of the plunger 1.9.This produces a wall 23 on the article which is provided with two flatsurfaces 2G and two other surfaces 27 which constitute part of the samecylinder. The thickness of the metal all around this portion issubstantially the same because the shape of the plunger extension 19that l have described above provides two opposite flat walls 29 parallelwith the walls The blank D, having been formed as above described andejected, is placed in another die 36 which is not designed to changematerially the outside shape of the article, but diders from the die 1Gmainly in that it is open at the bottom. Then the plunger' 37 having ashape and size substantially the saine as that of the plunger extension19 is forced down through the blank to punch out a hole 34 in the bottomof it of the same shape and size as the passage in the blank D. Thisproduces the blank E.

The next step of the process consists, in this form of the invention, inshaping this blank E in suitable dies, not shown, to produce the blank Fwhich differs from the blank E merely in having its external surfacelengthened and changed from the cylindrical shape to a hexagonal shapeat 32. 1n side it is also given a hexagonal shape at Ofvcourse if anyother shape is desired that will bc within the scope of this invention.

It is to be understood that this opening 31 is provided for thereception of the flat end of a wrench handle 38 which is inserted invthe opening and headed over inside so as to form a complete socketwrench as shown in Fig. 11 if that is the object aimed at. Or it can beleft detachable as shown for fitting a plurality of socket heads. It isto be observed that the extension 19 and plunger 37 are non-circular sothat the end of the handle 3S can be made of similar shape in a verysimple manner out of round bar iron.

ln describing the preferred way of carrying out the invention I havespecifiedA merely the mechanical steps without calling attention to thedetails and specific results thereof. 1t is to be noted, however, thatthe formation of the blank D from the blank` C is accomplished byflattening the cylindrical shoulder 18 on the inside of the blank D.

This is a drawing orrdisplacement process and moves the metallongitudinally in a manner that could not be accomplished by a merecompression of the blank to flatten it on opposite sides. Such apressure would tend to increase the diameter of the curved surfacesinstead of forcing the metal back into the shoulder as stated above.

1n this 'way an article of the class described, or of any generallysimilar form, ran be produced by a series of the simplest kind of metaldrawing operations from sheet metal, and thus when it is to be producedin large quantities a very material saving can be effected in themanufacture. At the same time a product is secured which is uniform,strong, and light and is not likely to have any cracks or imperfectionsif made from ordinary qualities of sheet metal that are on the market.

Although 1 have illustrated and described only a single form of theinvention and shown it as applied to the manufacture only of a Singlearticle l am aware of the fact that changes in the procedure can be madeand that the invention can be used broadly in this art for themanufacture of other arl ticles without departingfrom the scope of theinvention as expressed in the claims.

Therefore l do not wish to be limited in these respects, but what I doclaim is: -4

l. The method of making a hollow article which comprises shaping a pieceof sheet metal into the form of a hollow member having an open end and aclosed end, flattening the closed end on opposite sides, then punching anon-circular hole through the closed end wall, and finally shaping the open end.'

2. The method of making a socket wrench which consists in shaping apiece of metal into the form oi' a hollow member having a closed end andan open end, draw" ig it out to reduce its diameter at the closed Yendand flattening it on opposite sides. then punching a hole through theclosed end wall, and finally shaping the open end.

8. The method of making a socket wrench head which comprises shaping apiece of sheet metal by die punching operations into the form of amember having a rounded closed end, reducing and simultaneouslyflattening the opposite sides of the closed end, by a drawing operationwithoutv modifying the open end, then punching a noncircular holethrough the closed end wall for the reception of the end of a handle.

4. The method of making a socket wrench head which consists in shaping a.piece of ysheet metal into the form of an open ended cylinder having aclosed end, reducing and simultaneously' iiattening the closed end,without modifying the shape of the open end, by a longitudinal drawingoperation,

then punching a non-circular hole through reduced passage at its mouth,then punchA ing a non-circular hole through the closed end oi the samesize and shape as the fiattened passage for the reception of the end or'a handle, and finally giving the open end the desired shape to it a nut.

6. rlhe method of making an article of the class described, whichIcomprises shaping a blank from sheet metal to give it an open `end and areduced closed end flattened on opposite sides and convex on itsintermediate surlaces, and punching out the centero the closed end toproduce a non-circular perforation having opposite fiat sides parallelwith the fiat sides of the exterior.

The method of 'making an article of the class described, which comprisesprodueing a blank from sheet metal having an open end and a reducedclosed end flattened on' opposite sides, and punching out a noncircularperforation kin the center of the closed end. i

S. The method of making a socket wrench which consists in shaping apiece of sheet metal into the formofv an open ended cylinder having aclosed end, reducing and flattening the closed end, then punching anon-circular holel through the closed end, giving the open end thedesired shape to tit a nut, inserting a piece oi' bar iron flattened onthe vend into said hole, and heading it over inside.

. 9. The method of makinga socket wrench which consists in shaping apiece of sheet metal by die punching operations into the form of an openended cylinder having a rounded closed end, reducing and iattening theclosed endy and the central passage therein, by a drawingoperatiomleaving the narrow dimension of the passage slightly less thanthe diametery oi' the reduced passage 'at its mouth, .then punching anoncircular hole through the closed end ofthe same size and shape. asthe iiattened passage, giving the open end the desired shape,

inserting a piece of bar iron flattened onk the end into said hole, andheading it over inside.

ln testimony whereof l have hereunto aiiixed my signature.

HJALMAR G. CARLSON.

